The Arcane-Pyre

Chapter 1 - Part1 - The Task at Hand

Introduction to the campaign

Chapter 1 Adventurer’s Log

King Vertalas places a notice around the city of Tolbec to alert his citizens of impending doom.

Adventurers are called forward to meet King Vertalas in his inner sanctum to take up the mission of retrieving his ancestral stone fragments.

The chosen adventurers: Esmerelda Ethelgard, Lycus Luminshadow, and Boldar Metalhelm step forward to be deemed as the chosen warriors to complete the mission.

They are given a communication shard and a heading as to where they need to go.

The adventurers are off and head for the first necrotic crypt.

Adventurers enter the dungeon and see three large semi-circle steps about a foot in depth each ascending downwards. Upon closer inspection of the room the following is noticed: Directly in front of them at the bottom of the steps is a medium sized fountain that is actively spouting water from a hole in the ceiling of the dungeon (about 15 feet up). To their sides, they notice much erosion on the ground, bloodstains, cobwebs, and broken wooden crates and wagons. On the wall are torches that dimly light the room. Behind the fountain is the only door visible to the PC’s in this room.

*First action was an inspection followed by a perception check by Lycus Luminshadow.

*Lycus notices multiple coins in the fountain and goes forward to collect the coins to divvy amongst the group at the end of the dungeon (16 SP).

*The group look around for hidden details and find nothing.

*The PC’s continue forward towards the next room and do not inspect the door for traps.

*They continue through the doorway and it was not trapped.

*Inspection shows a long corridor about 100 feet in length. Halfway down the corridor, there is a diagonal shift left, and then the corridor straightens out again. There is a sliver of visibility to the end of the room determining that the shift is short.

*To the immediate right of the group is an unlocked doorway. To the left approximately 15ft ahead is another unlocked doorway. At the end a door on the left of the corridor is vaguely visible.

*A perception check is performed by all characters. Lycus notices that there is what looks like a tripwire shortly following the second visible doorway.

*Esmerelda advances forward to immediately disarm the trap before it causes future problems. Instead of rolling to disarm, she cuts the wire and dives backwards to avoid the trap.

*A hail of arrows fires from the ceiling down to the floor and leaves the pathway littered with splintered arrow shafts meant to have impaled some unlucky explorer.

*The adventurers declare that something important is clearly up ahead, else it would not have been guarded by a trap.

*The adventures are now alerted of the lethality of this crypt and move more cautiously.

*A democratic decision is made and the PC’s vote to move through the first of the three available doors.

*In this next room, the PC’s notice the following things upon entering the room: it is very jagged in shape, there is a large crucifix statue immediately in front of the door (but not blocking it), a large pipeline spills out a significant amount of what appears to be toxic waste, there is a small storm drain in one corner of the awkwardly shaped room, a skeleton sits on a bloody and torn-up blanket, two doors are visible in this room, and finally a smaller and more slender pipe is across from the one spewing toxic waste and appears to lead into another room.

*The adventures inspect the room for traps and find none.

*A roll for nature/medicine by Lycus shows that the waste is not lethal, rather it has a debuff that will add a -2 AC for all rolls made in the next hour by anyone who comes into contact with the sludge-like ooze).

*The adventurers continue forward and find one of the two doors is locked shut and is too large to be opened with force.

*The other door is unlocked and they can continue forward, but the group can’t but help feel like something important is behind this locked door. What other reason would it be locked for?

*The PC’s find that the slender pipe leads into the room that is locked. The grate-cape has already been lifted open for them – as if almost to invite them in.

*The PC’s also realize the pipe is coated in the toxic sludge, and anyone who crawls through will suffer the debuff.

*A vote decides that Boldar should be the one to crawl through and see what’s on the other side, as his fearless personality suggests he would do.

*Boldar comes to swift realization that he is too wide to fit through the pipe. A flaw that affects most dwarves due to their shorter-than-average stature.

*Esmerelda, by choice, decides she would be the next best fit for the job. She crawls through the pipeline and enter the other side.

*Upon entering the ill-lit room, she identifies small crates, bloodstains, and another small storm drain followed by a double-door.

*Esmerelda searches the drain and finds 6SP and 1GP.

*Esmerelda opens the double door to find a circular room with a pedestal in the center that a closed coffin lays on. Surrounding the coffin is an almost-full-circle table that rings around the pedestal.

*On this table, Esmerelda identifies multiple history books, mundane potions, rubbish, and one large tome-like book with a magical marking on it.

*Esmerelda rolls for perception and finds a double door hidden on the shadow to the right. No visible traps in the room.

*Esmerelda takes the spell tome and inspects the coffin.

*A star with a circle around it drawn in blood is on top of the coffin.

*Esmerelda is curious and decides to push the coffin open. As she moves it slightly the coffin cover bursts open and Esmerelda is knocked back off the pedestal, but lands on her feet. An enormous groan comes from the coffin as an undead warrior erects from within. An icy glare, complimented by glowing light-blue eyes, is directed at Esmerelda as she stands there at the ready and watches the undead arise.

*Boldar and Lycus hear the loud bang from the coffin lid bursting off and hitting the concrete floor, and the crippling roar let out by the undead monster.

*Boldar and Lycus are unaware of what is going on, but have a gut-feeling that it is far from good.

*Esmerelda – without a second thought- immediately dips out of the room and slides through the hallway towards the pipe. On the way back she gets a glance at the large door that was locked on the other side. Without stopping she gracefully dives through the pipe and makes a clean rolling landing on the other side.

*Boldar and Lycus stare at Esmerelda as she stands upright and brushes herself off. She turns around and looks at them like nothing just happened. Boldar and Lycus have a very confused look on their faces.

*Another sharp roar comes from through the pipe as the undead warrior stomps his way through the hallway and whips his head 90 degrees to the left to stare directly through the pipe. His eyes are locked onto Esmerelda.

*As the monster slowly moves towards them the group consults on whether to shut the grate and stop the undead warriors advance, or to let it through and clear the unknown room by the coffin that Esmerelda identified.

*The decision is made and the warriors let the monster begin to crawl through.

*Esmerelda draws her bow, and with a smooth backwards step backwards and slide, charges her bow up with two arrows and goes for a split shot.

*The arrows land on both shoulders of the warrior and it screeches. Now enraged, it forces forward through the pipe and gets up. At this points the group realizes that the monster is not unarmed.

*The warrior draws a large crude two hand sword and holds it with ease in one hand. Something that heavy is not easy to carry in one hand, so this warrior must be very strong.